Dems Make Final Pre-Primary Pitch in Rural Nevada

Friday’s tour came the day after online news outlet FiveThirtyEight published a story alleging cybersecurity weaknesses discovered in Nevada’s election system by an outside tech consulting firm.

The Nevada Secretary of State’s office flatly disputed the claim, writing in a statement to the Reno Gazette Journal that there was no connection between the reported online security flaws and the election systems now in use by the state.

Nelson Araujo, the two-term Las Vegas Assemblyman running an election security-focused campaign for secretary of state, said he hadn’t read the article, though he doesn’t doubt Nevada could do more to shore up its election system amid ongoing fears over a Russian campaign to meddle in U.S. elections.

He credited state lawmakers, including Ford, for setting aside millions of dollars for new voting machines during the 2017 Legislature.

“I think we’re seeing all the real threats being posed to our election system and it’s important for us to be well ahead of those threats in terms of cybersecurity efforts,” Araujo said.

He and his colleagues were soon off to Fallon for a barbecue hosted by Churchill County Democrats. They stopped off in Austin, Eureka, Ely and Wendover on Saturday, before looping back to Elko and Winnemucca on Sunday afternoon.

Araujo does not have a primary election opponent. He’ll likely face Republican incumbent Barbara Cegavske in November’s general election.